Handle attaching means for mounting frames



Dec. 1941- R. PJSILBERNAGEL 2,268,430

HANDLE ATTACHING- MEANS FOR MOUNTING FRAMES F iled Dec. 4, 1940 Patented Dec. 30, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HANDLE ATTACHING MEANS FOR MOUNTING FRAMES Raoul P. Silbernagel, New York, N. Y. Application December 4, 1940, Serial No. 368,489

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for attaching handles to the split mounting frames for magnifying glasses and the like, having reference more especially to the type of attaching means in which a screw connection between the frame and the handle is employed.

The principal object of my invention is to provide simple, cheap and reliable handle attaching means which effectively connects the meeting ends of a split mounting frame adapted to surround the article to be held thereby and at the same time reinforces the frame at the joint thereof, this being heretofore the weakest point of the frame.

With this object in View, and others, my invention comprises features of novelty which will be hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being expressed in the appended claims.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a front view embodying my invention, broken away.

Fig. 2 is a separate view of the mounting frame.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the adjoining end portions of the frame and the handle attaching means therefor, the latter being in sectional elevation, and the assembled parts being shown in their relative positions preparatory to the clamping of the handle to the frame.

Fig. 4 is a similar view but with the handle clamped to the frame.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section, as on the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a transverse section, as on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a similar section through the shank members of the frame.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a longitudinally slotted screw plug adapted to be fitted to the shank members.

Referring to the drawing, I0 designates a onepiece expansible and contractible split-frame of substantially flat metal, or other material, having therein an internal groove l 1 within which is seated the lens l2, for example, of a reading glass; and I3 designates a handle having means for connecting thereto the meeting ends of the frame and maintaining them in close relation.

According to my invention the split frame 1 is formed with reduced end portions I4 terminating in lateral projections constituting ears l5, which end portions with their ears are bent outwardly, and, as seen in Fig. 2, are normally separated by virtue of the inherent elasticity of a reading glass part of the handle being of the material constituting the frame. By manually contracting the frame the shanks are brought into close parallel relation to constitute a shank having oppositely extending ears spaced from the body of the frame. In that case the lens l2 or other encompassed object can be bound by and within the frame.

A separate threaded plug I6 is loosely fitted on the shank members when the frame is con tracted, as just mentioned, thus providing a detachable non-rotatable stud which is effective to hold the frame in substantially closed condition. As herein shown the plug is formed with a longitudinal slot l1 opening at the periphery of the plug, which slot is of suitable width and. depth to receive the closed depending shank members, as seen in Fig. 3.

The handle I 3 is provided with an end head l8 having a socket element l9 which is internally threaded correspondingly with the plug and is adapted to be applied to the lower end of and screwed on the plug when the latter is fitted on the shank members. The plug, as the threaded socket advances thereon toward the frame, is held by the rigid shank members against rotative movement, and therefore the plug end remote from the frame is forced against the opposing terminal ears l5 of the shank members, thus constituting thrust portions for the respective ears. Consequently the shank members are forced down as the socket element advances, and therefore when the element is screwed home against the opposing ends of the frame the shanks are placed under tension between the acting end of the socket and the ears [5 at the thrust portions of the screw plug. In the relative movements of the socket element and the plug the shanks and the split ends of the frame are forced together, without distorting the frame, in that the end of the socket bears against the meeting ends of the frame at spaced points thereon across the joint, thus firmly locking the ends in that condition and at the same time effectively reinforcing the frame at the joint (see Figs. 4 and 5). It is to be noted that when the screw plug is applied to the shank members of the split frame containing the lens, said frame and lens are held in assembled relation by the plug, thus enabling the packing and shipping of the assembly Without the handle, as occasion may require.

In order to ensure the central location of the handle in relation to the surface of the frame, when the handle is applied to the slotted plug previously positioned on the shank members, said members are slightly offset from the circumferential median line of the frame correspondingly with the thickness of the closed end of the longitudinal slot in the separable plug, as indicated in Figs. 6 and '7.

A structure embodying my invention can be economically manufactured; that is to say, the frame including the shank and ear members is an integral structure which can be readily cut from a continuous strip and shaped, and the plug is merely a small section of a threaded and slotted rod, which plug can be applied with facility to the shank members of the frame and when it is so applied the plug co-acts with and serves as a complementary reverse clamping member for the socketed head of the handle, as previously described.

Variations of the specific exemplifying construction herein shown and described may be made within the principle of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim- 1. In combination with a split mounting-frame for supporting an article surrounded thereby, said frame having at its respective ends outwardly extending shank members provided with lateral projections spaced from the frame, a

screw plug having a radial slot within which the shanks are seated and having also thrust portions for abutting said projections, and a handle having a threaded socket member at its end adjacent the frame, said socket member adapted to be jammed against the ends of the frame when screwed home on the plug to place the shanks under tension between such end of the socket member and the projections and thrust portions of said shanks and plug, respectively.

2. In combination with a split mounting-frame for supporting an article surrounded thereby,

said frame having at its respective ends outwardly extending shank members provided with lateral projections spaced from the frame, a screw plug having a radial slot within which the shanks are seated, the lateral projections on the shank members abutting the end of the plug remote from the frame, and a handle having a threaded socket member at its end adjacent the frame adapted to be jammed against the ends of the frame when screwed home on the plug to place the shanks under tension between such adjacent end of the socket member and the abutment of the plug against the lateral projections of the shanks.

, RAOUL P. SILBERNAGEL. 

